GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that customers’ inventory corrections are nearing completion, and it expects full-year revenue to exceed last year’s level, excluding the effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations.
The company expects modest revenue growth next year, supported by a continued recovery in the semiconductor industry, driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
“We believe that the most challenging phase is behind us,” GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told an online investors’ conference.
Photo courtesy of GlobalWafers Co
“The pace of recovery remains uneven across applications... AI and data center demand continues to drive investment in advanced nodes, while the PC and mobile segments remain muted, and we are gradually beginning to see positive signals from the automotive and industrial sectors,” Hsu said.
GlobalWafers’ revenue in the first half of this year expanded 3.9 percent annually to NT$31.6 billion (US$1.06 billion) — the third-highest first-half performance in the company’s history.
Although supply chain inventories are gradually declining, customer procurement decisions are increasingly influenced by geopolitical tensions and tariff-related considerations, prompting a shift toward regional sourcing strategies, the company said.
A potential challenge looms if Taiwanese semiconductor companies are subjected to a 20 percent tariff following the conclusion of a US Section 232 investigation under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as the company’s rivals are to be levied at a lower rate of 15 percent, Hsu said.
However, GlobalWafers said its global manufacturing footprint and cross-site product qualifications with customers provide the flexibility to shift production and shipments to regions with optimized cost structures.
The company is accelerating qualification processes and ramping up production at overseas sites to ensure resilient local supply, Hsu said.
If strong demand in the US persists, the company would consider advancing the next phase of capacity expansion to further enhance local support, she added.
GlobalWafers also operates production facilities in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Europe.
The company reported second-quarter net profit of NT$1.68 billion, up 15 percent from NT$1.46 billion in the previous quarter. However, net profit declined 41 percent from NT$2.88 billion a year earlier.
Earnings per share rose to NT$3.52 last quarter, up from NT$3.05 in the previous quarter, but down from NT$6.02 a year earlier.
Gross margin declined to 25.8 percent, compared with 26.4 percent in the first quarter and 32.3 percent in the same period last year, attributable to higher depreciation expenses and increased costs associated with the company’s global capacity expansion plans.
Factory utilization improved on a quarterly basis, with the loading rate of 12-inch silicon wafer production lines rising to more than 90 percent, and 8-inch lines operating at about 80 percent. Equipment usage for small-diameter wafers, such as 6-inch wafers, reached 70 percent, the company said.
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